HOMES that have stunning views of the Lake District could be yours for a bargain price – but there is a significant catch.
A row of 11 early Victorian homes is to be sold off for just £550,000.
When Lonsdale Terrace was built in the 1840s it was the pride of St Bees, a coastal village in Cumbria.
But in the past decade it has fallen into dilapidation.
In its heyday it was home to some of the area’s most affluent shipping families as the industry boomed in the port of Whitehaven, nearby.
Later, the houses became home to girl boarders at St Bees School, which has educated actor Rowan Atkinson and Stuart Lancaster, former coach to the England rugby union side.
The school though temporarily closed in 2015 due to the 2008 economic collapse and a drop in pupil numbers, and the houses began to fall into disrepair.
While a number of developers have bought the street with the aim of restoring the homes to their former glory, the economic challenges, coupled with the conservations demands placed on the Grade II listed terrace have proved to be too much.
Two attempts to rejuvenate the street failed and the developers went into administration.
People who had paid out deposits on properties that were earmarked to become huge luxury homes, lost their cash.
The once prosperous road became a dangerous eyesore due to break-ins which ripped out any fixtures and fittings that remained.
The situation got so bad the police were called in and the street was cordoned off with a steel gate.
Locals now have been given hope the terrace can still be revamped when it goes under the hammer next week.
Should the guide price, a developer could snap up the entire street for the cost of a single home.
Neil Bennington, who sits on the St Bees Parish Council, told the Daily Mail: “When it was built it was clearly an absolutely magnificent terrace, as fine an example of that type of housing that you would ever find from that era.
“I’ve been inside them and you can feel a sense of their history, it’s the sort of place you might find described in Dickens or Trollope. In fact, I always thought they were the kind of place the Warden of Barchester might have lived.
‘It’s terribly sad to see them fall into such disrepair in recent years and I think everyone in the village would love to see someone buy them who has the ability to return them to their former glory.”
He added it could be an “amazing opportunity” for someone who could snap up the entire terrace for a relatively small sum of money, with the aim to sell them individually as family homes.
Mr Bennington did say that due to the state of the properties there were safety concerns, particularly if kids managed to get in and wander about the run-down properties.
He said that when they were first built they were “very high-quality family homes” and they remained in private hands for years.
But when St Bees School, which was founded in 1583, expanded in the 1970s and became co-educational, Lonsdale Terrace became home for the girl boarders.
Lonsdale House, on Lonsdale Terrace, was opened on June 28, 1983, by Princess Anne, who also toured the school estate.
The school governors confirmed in April 2015 that the school would close although it reopened its doors three years later in a partnership with the Full Circle Education Group and the terrace was no longer needed.
While developers have tried to revive the properties, they are said to have clashed with Historic England over the renovations which proved to be too costly, according to locals.
But residents of St Bees are now hopeful the terrace can be returned to its glory days.
One said: “You could see the houses from a miles away as you came into the village.
“They were painted brightly in pastel colours and were the first things you noticed as you came into St Bees, they were the pride of the village in some ways and for them to deteriorate into such an eyesore has been sad to watch.”
Jim and Jo Bell have a home in a historic cottage across the road from Lonsdale Terrace.
Jim said he expected the terrace to go for more than the asking price but if it did, it would still be an “amazing investment” for someone.
The auction takes place at the Halston Hotel in Carlisle on December 10.
Auction House Cumbria described the lot as a “tremendous residential investment opportunity”.
The estate agent said: “A tremendous residential investment opportunity in this sought after coastal village some four miles south of Whitehaven on the fringe of the Lake District National Park.
“The village is the start of Wainwrights famous coast to coast walk.”
Hilco Valuation Services Europe and Hilco Real Estate Advisory UK & Europe have been instructed by the joint administrators as the sole marketing agent.
Scott Marriott said: “This provides an excellent opportunity for an established developer or contractor to acquire this property with the benefit of planning and listed building consent.
“The completed houses would appeal as family homes or holiday lets.”
